Coming Home Again
by Astarte Paludan
Summary: Whatever happened after the finale? What will the gaang do now? A story about new feelings, finding family and figuring out the future. Kataang.
1. The least confusing kiss in her life

**The least confusing kiss in her life**

The setting sun shone upon the faces of the two youngsters, their lips locked together and their eyes closed shut. The girl's arms were draped around the boy's neck; her hands pressing his head forward, and because she was slightly taller than him, up against her own. At the same time his arms were around her waist, pressing them together, maximizing the amount of contact their bodies had with each other. The kiss drew out while they softly caressed their counterpart, but eventually they had to breathe again. Their eyes fluttered open while they slowly drew apart, both a bit short of breath, but they kept their bodies intertwined. The young pale boy, clad in a monks yellow garment and tattooed with blue arrows on his head and arms, smiled while he looked into the blue eyes of the tan-colored girl in front of him.

"Are you still confused, then?" Aang, the twelve-year old Avatar asked, "because it would really be nice to know if could get my hopes up again."

"No, I'm not confused any longer," fourteen-year old Katara answered him, smiling too, "my head seems so clear right now, I hardly can believe I ever doubted at all."

Smiling, Aang reached a hand up to her head and tugged a stray brown hair behind her ear before he laid it to rest on the chin, his thumb gently caressing her skin. Katara closed her eyes and rested her head in his hand, savoring the feeling.

"What was it you were so confused about in the first place?" he asked. Katara grabbed his hand in hers and turned slowly away again, facing the city and the setting sun. She was quiet, her hair hiding her face, as if she was ashamed of it all.

"It's… it's really hard to explain, Aang," she started, "your feelings toward me; they confused me, a lot… I couldn't understand that I was capable of harboring such feelings, didn't understand what they meant, just because I was near you. The war… it had already taken away my mother… I couldn't stand losing another person so close to me, and you were going to fight the Fire Lord himself! I just couldn't face having my world destroyed again if you weren't to come back…" Her voice trailed off.

"It's okay, Katara, I understand," he comforted her, "I figured it could be something like that after the scene I made during that cursed play. I really shouldn't have pressed you into the corner like that." She chuckled at his discomfort of remembering that night.

They were quiet for a time, while they admired the sunset over Ba Sing Se. Sighing, Katara leaned against Aang.

"Sometimes I just feel too young for all this, Aang," she whispered, "we are all so young. This horrid war… to be caught in the middle of it like we all suddenly was. Our responsibilities towards everybody, especially your status as Avatar… everybody looked to you to save them, to end the war! We're kids, Aang. I'm just fourteen and you're only twelve, we should be laughing and playing and not have a care in the world. Even this thing, our feelings… we shouldn't feel like this, not before years from now…" Her quiet whisper ended in a sigh.

"Hey, it doesn't matter… Well, okay it could have been nice to have had a few more years to just goofing around in the temple… but people needed the Avatar, even though it was just a twelve-year old boy, so I had to grow up rather fast. Katara, most of us have lost someone dear in the war, we couldn't just ignore it and pretend to be the same children as we were before, could we?" he asked her, "besides, I would still love to go penguin sledding with you, play Pai Sho, ride the giant Koi or just help Toph annoy Sokka. I'm just a boy who knows how to be serious when the world needs the Avatar, and to have fun when it doesn't."

Kissing her head he said, "Besides, I'm really 112 years old; I'm old enough to do whatever I want."

Her sudden burst of laughter could easily be heard by the group inside the Jasmine Dragon, but even without it Toph would have had known that something had changed. She kept tabs on the movements of everyone in her vicinity, and had been aware of Aang leaving the tea shop immediately. It hadn't escaped her notice that Katara snug out after him, and she had subconsciously monitored them while she was drinking her tea and listened to Mai's and Suki's game of Pai Sho. She had noticed that Katara heart beat seemed quite flustered at first, while Aang's were very calm. Suddenly both of their hearts sped up, and only recently were they beginning to slow down again, and when they all heard Katara laughing, both their hearts were as calm as Aang's were to begin with. She lifted her head in their general direction as soon as she felt them enter the tea shop again.

"Well, you two seem very content right now, but I can say that was not the case the whole time you were out… What did you do to sweetness a couple of minutes ago, twinkletoes?" Naturally Toph couldn't see the small blush on both Katara's and Aang's cheeks, but everybody else certainly noticed and were equally curious.

"Whatever it was, you both seemed to be rather excited about it," she added with a grin.

"Let's just say we have proved the Ember Island Players wrong on more than Aang's fight with the Ozai," Katara answered, while her faint blush reddened, "they seem to have been wrong about me and Aang as well…"

"You mean, beside the fact that Aang was played by a gi-ARGH!" Sokka didn't even finish his joke before Suki pulled the chair out from under him.

* * *

**A/N:** A bit short, wasn't it? Don't worry, the next chapter should be a little longer, but hopefully just as sweet :)


	2. The nomad way of life

**The nomad way of life**

The little house in the upper ring that had been given to the Avatar and friends were buzzing like a bee hive and the frantic movements of the occupants were seen everywhere. A few weeks had passed since the whole group's reunion in the Jasmine Dragon, and most of them had chosen to stay in Ba Sing Se, and had spend their time attending the official parties and celebrations held in honor of the Avatar and his friends. Zuko and Mai had returned to the Fire Nation after a few days in the city; their country desperately needed its leader to coordinate the rebuilding and protect it from within. A few people had not been willing to adept to the new Fire Lord and his utterly different politics and now they rebelled against him in the name of the Phoenix King Ozai.

Katara, already done packing, left her very heated room and walked into the main room of the house. From here she could see the rooms of the rest of the group who, like her, had left their doors open in hope of catching a small wind. The group was leaving Ba Sing Se to visit their families. Now since the war was over they figured the world could do without the Avatar and his friends for a couple of weeks, and some of them, like Katara and Sokka, hadn't seen their home in most of a year. They had talked about splitting up but that would have meant leaving Aang alone in the house. Besides, they had come to be so tight that they could hardly image _not_ being together again – they were almost like a family.

It was early afternoon and Katara had skipped lunch in order to complete her packing earlier. Feeling slightly famished she grabbed a mango and a knife from the bowl on the kitchen table and slumped back into the pillows. Her gaze fell upon her brother, who was desperately struggling to make room for his multitude of weapons without folding the clothes properly – a job Katara used to do for him. Grinning inwardly she shifted her gaze to the next pair of doors; Suki's room, empty except for her packed bag on the floor. She had finished early too and had then asked Toph whether she could help her get hers done. Since the end of the war Toph had relaxed some of her resistance against getting helped by her friends and was now perched on her bed, happily chatting with Suki while the older girl folded and packed the last of her clothes in her bag. Still smiling Katara shifted her look to the door of the last room; Aang's. Except for the sleeping lemur atop the small sack, which in turn was placed on the bed, the room was as neat and spartan as you could expect of a monk – even the inhabitant was gone.

"Where's Aang?" Katara thought, while she felt her smile falter slightly. Laying aside her half-eaten mango she rose with the intent of finding her monk wherever he was hiding. Blushing slightly from her subconscious choice of words she went out into the garden, where Appa was happily snoozing. Unwilling to disturb the great bison and disappointed by the obvious lack of the Avatar she continued round the house to the veranda out front, where Aang stood leaning on the railing, looking at nothing. There was an odd expression on his face, sad and speculative, and very unlike the normally joyful boy. She kissed him lightly on the cheek before standing next to him, copying his stance. Without looking at her directly Aang placed his arm around her waist, pulling her closer, and a smile crept on his face at the pure joy of being able to touch her and hold her like this.

"Hey, Katara," he said with a half-smile, "you done packing, then? It would be great if the others could be ready to leave early tomorrow morning too." Ignoring his attempt of creating small-talk Katara noticed his eyes were a little distracted, as if he was still halfway focused on whatever it was that had occupied his thoughts before she came.

"What were you thinking about, Aang? Just now, before I interrupted? You looked rather peculiar, almost sad even," she said, while she drew a finger along his jawbone, "you know, as your girlfriend I am entitled to know when and of what you're sad about, so I can cheer you up properly."

"It was nothing, really," he shrugged, "nothing anyone can do anything about anyway, so it doesn't really matter, right?"

"Aang, you are not answering my question at all. If you don't want to talk about it; fine. But I really would like to know, okay? I want to know what bothers you, and help you if I can."

He sighed, "Well, I know it's not your fault or anything but knowing that we are heading out to visit your families, it's just…" and he paused a bit, as if to gather his words, "I don't really have anything anymore. No Gyatso, no monks, no air nomads whatsoever! It's just, I don't have a family to visit alongside you guys, and it kind of makes me sad." He looked at her like a puppy that had been caught wetting the carpet: afraid and shameful. As if his feelings of longing and sorrow for his loved ones were inappropriate and hurtful to their little group.

"Stop being foolish, sweet," Katara answered, "it's not like we're going to be angry at you for missing your family, right? Sometimes I get envious of the kids out there who still got a mother, when mine's gone, but that does not make me to a bad person." She paused shortly, finding his eyes and looking them with hers.

"Do you consider me to be bad because I still wish that my mom hadn't died when I was little?" she asked while lowering her voice to a whisper.

"NO! No, no, no, of course not. Why would you say something like that, Katara. You just miss her, that's all. It's normal, everybody can understand it, "he answered in a frantic voice, desperately trying to reassure her of what he thought was an honest insecurity in herself. Katara leaned in and placed a kiss on his chin and nuzzled his earlobe in the process, effectively silencing him.

"Then why would you even consider the possibility of us being mad at you for missing nearly everybody you knew from before, silly. As you said it's just normal for us," she smiled a small sad smile, "normal for the ones who were left behind."

Aang pulled her closer and for a while they just stood there on the veranda, looking out on the city. Katara would have been perfectly happy to just enjoy the sensation of being held by her Aang in silence, but a thought had entered her mind. To be honest it was something she had often wondered about, but every time she would simply forget to ask him again.

"Aang?" he mumbled an agreement, "can I ask you something? It's somewhat personal, I think."

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead." He said lazily.

"Well, I've been thinking," she started nervously, "about families… how did they do it, the Air Nomads? I mean, if the women were in one temple and the men in another. As far as I have understood then all of your people were benders, right?"

"Well, yeah they were, due to the level of spirituality we practiced in our culture," he admitted proudly, smiling at her, "but you have to remember that our culture was nomadic. The temples were only centers of learning, in some way or another, and many of the nomads were traveling most of the time. And yes, all of the adults were monks or nuns, but in our culture it did not remove the option of couples, or children. The kids would be sent to the temples to train and their families could visit them regularly." The pause made Katara look up on him: he was smiling a half-smile and looking out on the city. He looked pretty cheered up, she deemed, and completely oblivious to her inspecting gazes.

"Though there were some of us who didn't necessarily have that background. Well, of course there would be a few orphans, "he continued a little thoughtfully, "but sometimes a pregnant nun would give the baby to the temple to raise and care for. Mostly they were cared for by a single elder monk or nun, but the whole temple would essentially be its family. I was one of them, you know, and Gyatso took care of me."

Despite his previous obliviousness he quickly noticed the look of shock on her lovely features. A quizzical expression appeared on his face, and he nudged her arm to coax an explanation out of her.

"You mean, you don't know who your mother is? But why would a woman just leave her child?" The shock was evident in the high-pitched tone of her voice.

"Listen, Katara. You've got to understand that this was pretty normal. Not all nuns or monks wanted a family; some would rather devout themselves to study, meditation or teaching. But that doesn't mean they could not have a little fun sometimes," he smiled mischievously, "they could have casual meetings and the children that might come from it did not have to be the responsibility of the couple involved. The temple would take them and care for them, and they would grow up with hundreds of loving parents and siblings."

"So, it doesn't bother you at all, that you don't know your parents?" she asked, to which he smilingly shook his head. "So, how about marriage? Did your people marry each other then?" In her effort to look at his face she had twisted herself so she leaned her back on the railings of the veranda.

"Well, some did," he told her, "but it wasn't really a criterion for living together and have kids. It was up to the person's involved if they felt for it or not."

After this they were silent for a while. Aang had falling into his previous occupation of watching the lower rings of the city, while unbeknownst to him, Katara was biting her lips in her effort to figure out whether she should ask him her next question or not. Scolding herself for her lack of courage she finally came to the decision to just go for it.

"You know, Aang, I was kind of wondering, again, if," she started nervously, "well, if you'd consider to… if you think you might want to… to marry someone someday, eventually… marry me, perhaps…" her voice trailed off into nervous silence.

Aang, on the other hand, didn't seem taken aback by her question. With a calm expression on his features he took her necklace in his hand and caressed it. Her skin tingled with the sensation of having his hand touch her skin ever so slightly. With his eyes still fixed on the necklace in his hand, he answered her:

"It would be really nice to give you a necklace like this, it think. To have you wear it around your neck for everybody to see." He looked up at her and smiled a most peculiar smile, almost thoughtful. They were standing rather close together, and the heat from his body and his answer had left her speechless. He leaned closer and was now whispering, she could feel his breath on her lips. "To mark you as mine. Forever."

He closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to hers. The hand that had been holding the necklace was pressed up against her chest, resting on her collar bone. The contact felt burning to Katara's paralyzed body. The other hand was at the base of her skull and was pressing it downwards ever so slightly. His whole body was up against her, pressing her back into the railing. The most curious thing was that even though her brain had basically shut down in the course of the last few moments, her body was responding all too well. She could feel her own mouth work against his, feel how her body molded itself to accommodate his and how one of her legs had begun to move up against his. Her hands had snaked around his waist and gripped his clothes, and now they helped to pull him against her. The whole experience gave her the sensation of doing something she wasn't supposed to know how to do yet.

All too soon he broke the kiss. He nuzzled her face with his own and gave her the most irritatingly knowing smile she had ever seen. Before she could do much to stop him he had stepped away and walked into the house again, all the while smiling his annoying smile.

Katara was left on the veranda, dumbstruck, to ponder the meaning of what had happened.

* * *

**A/N:** There you go, it might have taken an eternity but I finally updated the story :) As you can see it isn't a one-shot after all. Actually I really do have a story planned out for this, you'll see. Please review, I can always use some helpful pointers on my writing, thanks :)


	3. Too much of a burden

**Too much of a burden**

Appa landed almost soundlessly in front of the statue of Avatar Kyoshi. The current Avatar and his friends had arrived to Kyoshi Islands, where a large group of villagers had gathered to meet them. Two weeks prior they departured from Ba Sing Se on a journey to visit each other's families and the turn had now come to Suki's parents – and Sokka's new in-laws.

The gang had already visited Gaoling and Toph's parents. The truth be told, the initial welcome from the Bei Fong's had not been a hug and a kiss: rather the guards had surrounded Appa when he landed in the garden and had not allowed anyone on his back to come down. Toph's father himself had demanded that the Avatar should vacate his property immediately; it had all happened so fast that Toph had not had the chance to announce her presence. Her mother had, in contrast to her husband, not rushed out when they spotted the flying bison in the distance. She had stayed to watch from her living room on the second floor and had therefore immediately spotted the small form of her daughter in the bison's saddle. Poppy ran as fast as she could out of the house towards Appa, knocking down a guard who tried to restrain her in the process, all the while shouting her daughter's name on the top of her lungs while Toph herself glided down on the ground to her mother. After the initial shock Lao joined his wife and daughter in a hug, happy as the couple was to see their only child again. Afterwards the whole gang was invited into the house for a talk, though not after Toph and Aang had explained to the still-furious Lao and Poppy that the Avatar had not kidnapped their innocent daughter but that she had in fact gone voluntarily. Once inside the Bei Fongs had explained to Toph that they had heard of her efforts in the war and they were extremely proud of what she had done, and that they could see now that she wasn't as helpless as they had previously believed. Poppy had hugged her daughter again and told her how happy they had been to receive that letter from her and how it had helped them to understand their daughter. At the mention of Toph's letter Sokka had begun to frantically inquire what had happened to his hawk: it turned out that the Bei Fongs had kept him since they didn't know where to send him back. Sokka was overjoyed to be reunited with his bird and the gang had spent a couple of days in Gaoling to give Toph and her parents a chance to reconnect. They had not been keen on the idea of letting Toph travel away with the gang again, but had ultimately understood that she wanted to be on her own a little while longer.

The gang had once again been offered the large guest house in the middle of the village and they had all been glad to accept, except for Suki who had chosen to stay at her parents' house. The last couple of days they had been on the island had consisted of celebrations: the islanders wanted to show how grateful they were to Aang and the rest, and especially how proud they were of Suki and her warriors. Between the different celebrations Aang, Katara and Toph hung out with Ty Lee and her new friends, sharing war stories with each other. They were extremely keen on hearing Ty Lee tell about the other side of the conflict. Sokka couldn't imagine a better place to be than with the island's resident fighter group, but unfortunately for him, he had to spend most of his time living through the ninth level of hell: getting acquainted with his girlfriend's parents. Poor Sokka were more nervous for the whole ordeal than he was during the invasion.

At afternoon on their second day on Kyoshi the islanders had decided to take a break. Katara and Aang, who had been craving a little time alone together, decided to head further up the mountain behind the village. Following a stream they found a spot in the trees where the stream widened and became a small lake, a perfect place for some casual water bending, and they stripped themselves of unnecessary clothing. Originally they started out with a couple of easy techniques but it soon transformed into a massive water fight that didn't stop before Katara had lifted most of the water in the pond up and dumped it on Aang in one giant splash. Laughing hard they threw themselves on the pile of clothes after Aang had dried them both with a warm wind. Resting her head on his stomach she closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of his hands through her hair and the closeness of their bodies.

"I've needed this," Katara thought to herself, "we haven't been able to goof of like this for awhile. I've missed seeing that side of Aang."

For quite some time she simply laid there reliving their past travels and inevitable she remembered the time they visited the southern air temple. It was the first stop on their long journey and Aang had really expected to find his people still there. He had been devastated, she remembered, and it had been terrifying to see him lose it all when he found Gyatso. He may be the Avatar, she thought, but he was still a kid. She smiled as she turned to look at him, and traced a finger down his arm. At least he used to be a kid, but now he clearly had become something more.

"Sweet?" she asked, still dwelling on the memory of the temple. He murmured something, indicating he was listening. "I've wondered if you would like to visit the air temple again, on the way to the village?"

"No," he said simply. His short answer made her somewhat uneasy, she could feel something was wrong.

"Well, why not?"

"Because there's nothing to come back to, it's empty," he answered, and so quietly she almost couldn't hear it he continued, "there's no-one left at all."

This left both of them deep in thought. Unbeknownst to them they pondered the same thing: the fact that Aang was the last of the air nomads.

"Have you ever… thought about," she paused nervously, choosing her next words with care," _restoring_ the fourth nation, Aang?" His quiet 'yeah' made her sink before she could continue.

"Well, what did you have in mind?"

"I…" he started slowly, "can only really think of one possibility. Since I'm the last airbender, all new airbenders have to originate with me. We… I have to have… kids. A lot, I guess."

Katara turned to look at him properly and saw that he was blushing madly. He was thoroughly ashamed at what his words meant, not only for him, but especially of what he had almost implied about her role. Slowly she sat up and Aang couldn't help but see it as if she was trying to keep a distance to him.

"I don't know what to…" she started but was quickly interrupted by the saddened Avatar.

"Ugh, what an idiotic thing to say. I'm sorry, Katara, I didn't mean that you – we had to…" he gulped, "It's too much of a burden to put on anyone – the recreation of an entire nation – and I can't believe… I don't want you to feel obliged to do anything. But I…"he paused, "can understand if you don't want to hang around anymore now that… now that you know."

The Avatar prepared to stand up and leave but was stopped by her hand on his own, and a small made him sit down fully again. He glanced at Katara, but she wasn't even looking at him. From where they were on the mountainside they could look south over the village and the cove – towards the pole. With her gaze still on the south she started to speak:

"I've always known that someday I would get married and have children. For some time I've even known that I would get married to you and that my children would have you as a father. It was a good plan, one that I looked forward to experiencing when we were old enough. It really was a good plan," she paused, and Aang knew that the rejection he had expected since the beginning of the conversation, and feared deep in his soul, was next to come, "I've just never felt like the world needed me to reproduce before, and it's not really a nice thought."

"I didn't ask that kind of pressure, Aang," each new word made his heart sink, "so I guess I will have to try to not think about it so much. It's still a good plan and what you have said hasn't really changed anything about it. I was going to marry you and have as many kids as you wanted anyway, just for the sake of our own happiness," she smiled, " so I guess nothing's really changed and we're not going to do anything I hadn't expected us do to anyway."

Aang blinked, speechless. She hadn't rejected him, she hadn't walked away. She was actually looking forward to sharing this life with him. A tear appeared in his eye, and as he pulled her into a hug as tight as their bodies allowed, he buried his face in her hair. He kissed her neck and whispered into her ear:

"I don't care what the rest of the world thinks, you _are_ my world. I… I love you."

She gasped at his confession and gently took his face between her hands. She stroked his chin and neck while she looked deep in his eyes, and what she saw made her smile. She leaned in to kiss him and did her best to pour her feelings into it. It was sweet, at first, but soon Aang leaned closer to her: his lips started to move with hers livelier than they had ever done before, and when his tongue touched her lips and mouth for the first time, fire ran down her body. The second time she parted her lips slightly and allowed him in. She was dazed, couldn't think, and she suspected he was in the same situation: they went with instincts and after what seemed like an eternity they broke the kiss; Katara was on her back with Aang on top of her. His hands were in her hair and hers was around him, holding him tightly against her.

"I love you too," she whispered. Immediately she realized the positions they were in and the feel of his bare skin against her hands and stomach made her remember that they hadn't put their clothes back on after training. Aang seemed to have come to the same conclusion because they both blushed deep crimson. In spite of this neither of them shifted position.

"You don't want to… start already, do you?" she said uncertainly, and his blush deepened.

"Ehm, as you said; we're both way too young for that, right? I wouldn't mind if we waited a couple of years before doing… anything like that," he said nervously, and they both smiled before he continued, "besides, you know your brother would kill me if he finds out that we're even talking about it."

Her amused laughter was loud enough to wake the lemur dozing above them in the trees.

* * *

**A/N:** Yay, one more chapter up! This was actually pretty hard to write, I think. How do you make two kids discuss sex realisticly, tastefully AND keeping them in character? I'd like to think I did okay... Once again, please review: it means a million and helps a lot :)


	4. The warmest hearts

**The warmest of hearts in the coldest of countries**

The sun shined brightly despite the early hour as Appa landed near the gate to the Southern Water Tribe, and the passengers on his back stirred sleepily. They had opted to keep flying during the night since they just wanted to get there as fast as possible, and they had trusted Appa's sense of direction enough to all sleep soundly. Not that they would have been to much help, had they been awake – none of them recognized the new village that had emerged from the snow since they had left so very long ago.

The Avatar nudged the still-sleeping waterbender in his arms, while Sokka shot them both a freezing glare, and Katara reluctantly started to get up. She felt no desire to leave her pleasant dreamland and the arms of her lover. Since their talk on the mountain over a week ago they had become much closer physically as though a mental barrier, the existence of which they hadn't even registered, had disappeared. Now they were almost always in some contact with each other – holding hands, hugging or simply a hand on the back. The night after they left Kyoshi Island and their guest house rooms, Katara had gone to where Aang was lying with his back against Appa and laid down next to him. Without hesitation the avatar had brought an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him, until her head had rested on his chest. The whole scene had rewarded the most shocked stare from Sokka, already in his sleeping bag, and they could tell that he had been about to yell at them for it. For some reason though, he had stopped, shrugged and turned around to pull Sukki toward him much like Aang had done. Since then Katara and Aang had slept innocently in each other's arms, miraculously without any protestations beside the occasional glare.

While they were jumping down from Appa they heard a shout behind them. A young boy had spotted them from the village wall, and his loud shouts of "it's the avatar, the avatar is here" were quickly making the villagers come running to the gates. One man didn't stop at the gates like the villagers and was instead running towards the gang and an elderly lady was walking as quickly as she could after him – Hakoda and Gran Gran were coming. The next five minutes was a flurry of hugs and kisses for the gang and even more hugs and kisses and "I'm so happy you're alright" for the two water tribe children. Eventually they calmed down and Hakoda led the group back into the village, where the tribe members greeted them just as warmly. Sokka and Katara were surrounded by smiling faces and embraces, Toph and Suki were cheered and received countless claps of the back, and Aang was treated with respectful reverence, almost as though he was the water or moon spirit. Looking at him and seeing his discomfort Katara released herself from her fellow tribesmen and made her way to the avatar's side. Grabbing his hand and lacing their fingers together she leaned in and kissed him right on the corner of his mouth, making their relationship clear and resulting in a collective gasp from the villagers. Smiling, Katara stayed by Aang's side as the shocked crowd muttered, and before long the avatar was receiving cheers and wolf whistles, their display having effectively broken the unnecessary reverence from before. When the crowd started to calm down the gang joined the lovers, bringing Hakoda and Gran Gran with them. An elderly man also joined them, placing himself beside Gran Gran with a hand on her shoulder. Pakku smiled as Katara released Aang's hand to throw her arms around him in a tight embrace, and hugged her back in return.

"I'm glad to see you and your brother made it safe through the comet, Katara," he smiled and she took a step back, grinning at him, "and that you've kept the rest of you safe as well. I'm proud you've been my student."

The tribe members pulled the gang around on a tour of the new village. Gone were the tents and the sad little village wall. In its stead were large igloos with more than one room and the wall, now twice as high as a man, had several guard towers and was being patrolled by Hakoda's proud warriors. The size of the village had expanded dramatically. It still wasn't as large as their northern sister city, but it wasn't small either. Pakku explained that he had brought with him many water benders from the north to rebuild the southern tribe, and many had decided to stay in the south along with their families. This, coupled with the return of Hakoda, Bato and their warriors had effectively tripled the population compared to when Sokka and Katara had left. Inside the large ring wall four roads started from the four gates, and met each other right in the middle of the middle of the village. Here a relatively large square had emerged centered around an ice sculpture of Pakku's own creation. It was a proud thing, resembling a water bender and a warrior back to back in attack poses, ready to face anything coming their way. It was a testament to the spirit of the water tribes, Pakku explained, the spirit that had kept them alive during a hundred years of war and helped them succeed in the end.

The rest of the day they spend exploring the village, and for the water tribe kids, catching up with their tribe members. Dinner became a loud affair, since Hadoka decided to have a feast to celebrate the return of his kids and their friends, and everyone threw themselves at the improvised celebrations. Members of the water tribes have made their home in a cold and unforgiving territory, but they always seem to try to negate the coldness of their home with the warmth of their hearts, and since the end of the war you'd be hard pressed to find anyone more welcoming towards strangers. Their laughter could be contagious and tonight their collective happiness was simply radiating.

Aang was thoroughly enjoying himself this night. The people were friendly, the food was not entirely incompatible with his stomach and Katara seemed happier than ever. They had talked and danced a lot during the evening, but for now he was happy to watch her chat with some of the villagers she hadn't seen since they left. He was so occupied with observing her smile and laugh that he didn't even notice Gran Gran was standing beside him before she cleared her throat and started to talk, giving him a shock in the process.

"Oh, hello Aang," she said smiling, "I was wondering if I could talk to you a little. That is, if you have the time of course." When he nodded she turned around and walked towards one the new igloos, and Aang absentmindedly wondered if it was her new home. Inside she directed him to a sit on a bench near the blissfully burning fireplace and sat down next to him. Immediately she started to talk.

"I wanted to talk to you," she said, "about Katara. And I thought that maybe you wanted to talk to me to?"

"I… yeah, I have some questions," he admitted.

"I'm glad that you and my granddaughter got together. I suspected as much, and you both seem happier now. You and Katara deserve a little more happiness in your lives. Tell me, what do you think of her?"

"Oh, she's positively wonderful," he exclaimed, "she's so brave and funny and smart and… beautiful. She means so much to me; I don't think I could have made it through if she hadn't stayed with me during the war."

"So you've been together quite some time now?" Kanna inquired.

"Well, not really. Only since the end of the war," he admitted, "but I kept hoping she would be with me, and just the thought of her being somewhere in this world, alive, whether or not she was with me, well it gave me another, extremely good reason to save it."

"So you love her?" Kanna asked him quietly.

"I… yes, I do. Even though I know we are both so young, " his face serious, "I don't believe that what I feel is anything else but love."

"Does she love you back?" she asked him, now with a curious tone.

"I believe so. We… she told me so."

"Good," Kanna nodded. For a time they were quiet, both lost in thoughts.

"Can… can I ask you something?" Aang asked the older woman nervously. She turned her blue eyes to him and voiced a 'of course'. Gulping, Aang started to talk.

"Well, me and Katara has been talking about some… stuff. I would really like to know what you," he sank, "think."

"Go on," she said, and after a slight hesitation Aang told her about his and Katara's earlier conversations. He told her about his feelings for Katara and his confusion concerning the strength of them, about how he desired to see his necklace around Katara's neck, how he desired to have her and to have the whole world see her as his – something he knew was improper for someone at his age. Not once during his confession did Kanna say anything or in any way interrupt him. When he finally stopped Kanna rested an arm on his shoulder, causing him to look her up at her. She looked eyes with him and took a deep breath, and Aang couldn't help but fear for the worst.

"Being the Avatar is a terrible burden," she started, voice serious, "and being the Avatar's love is, in some ways, just as hard. I know that nothing is normal about the Avatar's life, not even his feelings, and certainly not his responsibilities. You, Aang, have responsibilities and burdens that no other Avatar has ever faced before, and because of her relationship with you, they involve my granddaughter too. But you are honest with her and let her decide for herself, and for that I am grateful, "a smile had crept into her voice and on her face, "I can't really give you any advice, Aang, but I don't think that's what you're looking for. Therefore, I'll just give you my blessing."

Smiling like crazy Aang reached over and pulled the old woman into a hug, before bolting out of the door, back to the party, and back to Katara.

Later Kanna would tug gently at Hakoda's arm and when he leaned down she would whisper a few words in his ear, words that would make him smile, even long after.

"He's going to make a great Avatar, don't you worry about that, my boy. And he's going to be an even greater partner to our Katara, I am sure of it."

* * *

**A/N: **And once again it took me way too long to update... but here it is, chapter 4 :) I'm actually half-way pleased by this chapter myself, so I'm looking forward to hear your opinions... One more chapter to go, and then the story's done - and I promise it won't take so long to update :) As always, please review, I simply love'em :P


End file.
